From:
"Janice Leenhouts"
Date: 2003-04-09 02:45:32 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Diabetes and insulinoma
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <003201c2fe42$170586d0$c1fea8c0@youryn89p666bj>
I have had a ferret who was diabetic. Her blood sugar was as high as 600-700
when we started her on insulin. At the most severe point, Kitzka was
receiving 3 units of Humilin U every 3 hours or 24 units a day. To monitor
her blood glucose, I would spend the day with her at my vets. They would
check her glucose every 2 hours. That way we were able to regulate the dose.
For a while, we did that every week or couple of weeks. Later we only had to
check it when something had obviously changed. Kitzka did way better when we
were treating her with insulin to lower her blood glucose than she did when
she became insulinomic and we had the opposite problem. She lived for 19
months after she became diabetic and was about 6 or 61/2 when she crossed
the rainbow bridge. I would not hesitate to care for a diabetic ferret -
it's much more manageable than some of their other common problems (in my
humble opinion).
Janice, Dinky, Baby Girl, DD, and Mama Ferret